THE RAMBAM RECORD
The eNewsletter of Rambam Mesivta High School
December 15, 2006 / 24 Kislev

RABBI LEIBTAG GIVES SHIUR FOR COMMUNITY LEARNING PROGRAM

This past Thursday night’s TLN offered a special shiur by Rabbi Menachem Liebtag, a noted Tanach teacher and lecturer from Yeshivat Har Etzion (Gush). The shiur, which was open to men, women and students in the community, was a historic and philosophic background to Chanukah entitled, “Human Initiative vs. Divine Intervention.” The shiur, which was followed by a wonderful collation, was given in the YU/Machon HaTorah Community Kollel at the Rambam Mesivta.

This week’s Community Learning Program also featured Monday and Tuesday night learning by Rabbi Avrum Haar and the Wednesday night Alumni Shiur by Rabbi Gideon Rothstein.

Students and parents prepare for Rabbi Haar's shiur

RABBI JJ SCHACTER GIVES PRE-CHANUKAH SHIUR

Rambam students were treated to a special pre-Chanukah shiur last Friday when Rabbi JJ Schacter addressed the students on “Chanukah and Activism.” In it, Rabbi Schacter asked the famous question of the Beis Yosef, “with only enough oil to last one night, why did the Jews even bother to light?” The very fact that they did is the core of activism, to do what you can, whatever you can, even if it’s only a little bit. The shiur certainly struck a chord with Rambam's talmidim who, through a variety of school fund drives and protests, are active in many important causes. As we see from the miracle of Chanukah, sometimes what seems like a small thing isn’t so at all.

AS WINTER NEARS, STUDENTS HELP THOSE IN NEED

The last of the toys to benefit the Chai Lifeline Annual Toy Chanukah Drive are being collected as Rambam students turn their attention to another worthy cause. This week, students collected clean, reusable coats to benefit the Mary Brennen Interfaith Nutritional Network soup kitchen. The effort was organized by Student Coordinator, Eli Naghdi.

For more information, please visit www.onewarmcoat.org.

REBBEIM FROM ISRAEL PROGRAMS OFFER SHIUR AND SHMOOZE FOR PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS

As part of its commitment to guiding students to the best post-high school learning programs for them, Rambam Mesivta invites rebbeim from a variety of top Yeshivot to offer students a taste of what each program offers. Rebbeim give shiur, answer questions and shmooze with interested students, giving them a sense of the style of shiur, hashkafa, learning methodology, and yeshiva life that awaits them. This week, Rambam hosted Rabbi Eli Marcus from Reishit on Tuesday and Rabbi Reuven Taragin from Yeshivat HaKotel on Wednesday.

Before school let out on Thursday, Rosh HaYeshiva, Rabbi Zev Meir Friedman addressed the talmidim about the Message of Chanukah today. Rabbi Friedman spoke of the challenges of assimilation and secular values that all Jews today face and the strong commitment we all must have to Torah and its values. Rabbi Friedman stressed that it is possible to be successful in the practical aspects of the modern-day world, to do well professionally and live a financially secure and comfortable lifestyle. Yet, we must always be cognizant that it is only through our deep commitment to our Torah roots and values that we remain a successful Jewish people.

DEBATE TEAM COMPETES AT YU

This past Sunday, the Rambam debate team headed to YU and joined with teams from twenty schools throughout the US. The debate topic was whether illegal immigrants should be given US citizenship within 7 years. “It was great to meet students from other schools and I definitely learned a lot,” says Debate Team Co-Captain Gabi Weinberg.

After the formal debate, students had the opportunity for extemporaneous speaking on a variety of topics. Sruli Spiegel’s topic, "Advocacy of Reading Over TV," which he says was motivated by true belief and not the presence of teachers, was done without any prep or even pre-notification of the topic. According to Spiegel, “It’s way more fun to speak without preparation and a lot less scary. I like just getting up there and seeing what I can come up with.”

The debate team then moved onto Flatbush where they competed in the novice debate. The topic was whether minors should be allowed to participate in fantasy leagues that offer monetary rewards. The effective arguments of Gilad Katz and Jared Weisel earned them a 3rd place team win. Gilad also won 3rd place speaker. It was a valuable experience for all who participated.

RAVENS HOCKEY

RAVENS BEAT CAVALIERS IN HOCKEY SEASON'S 8th GAME

The Ravens headed to Uniondale on Sunday to face the 3-3 CAVS. It was the first game with their captain, Dovid Tauber, upon his return from an injury sustained at the season's second game against Magen David. Tauber played a strong game and scored his first career goal. Chaim Schiff played a great game in goal, leading the Ravens snugly into the 8th place seed.

Though 8th is not where they hoped to be, the Ravens look like they are finally coming together with two straight wins, one of them their first win against HANC in 8 years. The Ravens face HAFTR on January 3rd and will need all their strength and strategies against that formidable opponent.

-Shimshon Seligson

JV RAVENS SUFFER ANOTHER LOSS

Wednesday night’s JV basketball game had the Ravens taking on Ezra Academy. It was a close game throughout with a score that varied from 6- 10 point leads for Ezra. Towards the end of the third quarter, Ezra began to show their might and widened the gap by 15 and even 20 points at times. With about 3 minutes left in the game, one of Rambam's high scorers, Kevin Rhine, went down with an injury allowing Ezra to forge a small comeback, ending with Rambam's 11 point loss to the Ezra Eagles.

The loss moved Rambam to an upsetting 0-6 hole as they came into Thursday night’s game against Derech HaTorah.The anticipated matchup between the Machon Ravens and the Derech Hatorah Bulldogs began with an early 4-0 lead by the Bulldogs. But, led by MVP Ephraim Siegel, who scored 24 points throughout, the Ravens made an unprecedented comeback. After a hard-played half, the Ravens were down by 3 with the score 30-27. After an inspirational half-time speech by Coach Weinreb, the Ravens took the lead throughout the late 3rd and early 4th quarters. But, in the end, the Bulldogs came back from behind and took the game 58-51. -Daniel Itshakov

Machon HaTorah wishes everyone a Happy Chanukah!